Having successfully survived Friday the 13th, I awoke to a dark, drear, drizzly world. At least it is relatively warm. As I write this, I am doing the mundane things of life, doing a load of wash after finishing picking up around the house today. This week a desk made by my grandfather, a master furniture maker, was returned to me after being away some months having all its joints worked on. Old age had made it more than a bit wobbly; now it’s back, sturdy as ever.
For those of us who are not nerds, let me tell you that today is PI Day. PI is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. Its first five digits are 31415, an event that will not happen for another century. 3/14 is also the anniversary of Einstein’s birth and therefore a cause of celebration of all things math related. I would have been in blissful ignorance of this if not for one of my train companions yesterday, who is a computer geek nerd wonderful chap, explaining it all to me in some detail.
So tonight, when I make a martini, I will lift my glass to PI Day. And Einstein.
There is no celebration happening today in the South Pacific as Cyclone Pam has left a trail of destruction as it passed through the island nation of Vanuatu. Winds up to 170 mph roared through accompanied by torrential rains. The full damage will not be known for days as communications have been severely crippled in the wake of the storm.
Cyclone Pam may be one of the worst storms to have ever passed through the region.
In Israel, Netanyahu is also facing a storm. His polling numbers are flagging and he is blaming a worldwide global conspiracy of the left for his slippage. While we are celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, the Israelis will be voting and the world will be watching.
Some within Likud, Netanyahu’s party, are saying that if they fail in Tuesday’s election, Netanyahu may lose his position as head of the party. The stakes are high for “Bibi.”
Stakes are high, too, in Iraq. There some government officials are saying Tikrit may be liberated within the next three days, a week at the most, despite booby-trapped roads and fierce resistance. It will be a psychological blow for IS to lose Tikrit, hometown of Saddam Hussein. IS is still holding on to a cluster of palaces built for the former dictator.
In Rome, Pope Francis has said he does not think his papacy will be a long one. Pope Benedict XVI may have started a precedent of retiring popes. Personally, I hope he doesn’t go too soon. He also has said that he misses being able to go to a pizzeria and getting a slice. He’s too famous now.
Also famous is Vladimir Putin, who still has not been seen in Moscow. Rumors are flying rampantly around the Russian capital. The most logical one is that he has been felled by a virulent flu that has broken the back of the capital. It is also rumored that he has been in Switzerland for the birth of a child by his mistress. It has also been whispered that he’s dead or a captive in the Kremlin of the far right. [It’s hard for me to think of anyone more right than Putin.] But rumors are all that the city has. He’s just not been seen. Tomorrow he is supposed to travel so if he doesn’t the rumor mill will probably explode.
Also exploding, but in a good way, is the live action version of “Cinderella” that opened last night, zooming its way toward a magical $70,000,000 weekend. Starring Lily James, Downton Abbey’s Lady Rose, and Cate Blanchett as the evil stepmother with Helena Bonham Carter as the Fairy Godmother it has rocked past the competition and garnered brilliant reviews.
Hoping to garner brilliant reviews for the dinner I am preparing for four neighbors tonight, I must head off to the store to pick up a couple of ingredients I forgot when I did the morning shopping.
Letter from the Vineyard 
Letter From New York 01 11 16 A temporary peace…
February 11, 2016Amtrak Hudson River Gary and Angel Koven The Knot Bernie Sanders Donald Trump Hillary Clinton Einstein Theory of Relativity Oregon Standoff Ammon Bundy NATO Syria Russia Secretary Kerry Lavrov Saudi Arabia
As I start this, I am riding south on Amtrak, heading into the city to see my primary care physician, who is in the city, to bring him up to date on my medical adventures.
The Hudson is a steely grey, occasionally looking like burnished silver when the sun breaks through the heavy cloud cover. My friend, James Linkin, is sitting beside me, happy to see me up and walking.
The river is choppy, not surprising as the wind is up and biting, making it feel much colder than the temperature. I am tired as I often am these days though grateful to be up and out of bed and on the move.
My world feels altered in some way by my sojourn in the hospital. My friends often describe me as thoughtful and I am more so right now. The last few days, I have lived in quiet, without my usual jazz playing in the background. I’ve started to turn it on and then decided against it, preferring silence as my solace.
Tonight, I will have dinner with my friends Gary and Angel. They have been married now for four + years and I was at their wedding. Today their love for each other is as incandescent as it was the day they married. I recommended them for a shoot for the 20th anniversary of The Knot, a website devoted to marriage. One of the crew told me they were his favorite couple.
While I have been recovering, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump won their respective races in New Hampshire. Headlines wonder whether Hillary’s campaign is about to implode and I wonder about the future of the country. The Trump juggernaut continues and that scares the hell out of me.
I’m sure I’m not the only one. The Daily News had scathing headlines about his victory saying zombies had come out to vote. One wonders…
Scientists are wondering less since they have found gravitational waves which fit into Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. Great scientific excitement and my friend, James, was particularly excited. He’s a fan of the physicist and shares his birthday with Einstein.
The Oregon Standoff is over. Bundy, Sr. has been arrested, following son Ammon to jail. And other standoff chapter is finished and this time, thankfully, without mass deaths.
NATO is sending warships into the Aegean to see if it can stem the flow of refugees, many being transported by human traffickers. The seas are rough, dozens are dying and the fighting rages back in Syria.
Saudi Arabia is said to have made a “final” decision to send troops to Syria. That is not going to uncomplicate things.
And while they might be sending troops, they’re not taking in their brethren, rather letting them suffer their fate on water than let them into their own lands.
Russia’s Foreign Minister, Lavrov, says this will result in an terminable, never ending war with the possibility of a new world war at the end of the game. Loverly.
The Saudis might make their move in concert with the Turks, who have been engaged in verbal hostilities with Russia ever since they downed a Russian jet before the New Year.
Secretary Kerry is desperately trying to get the Peace Talks going but it seems hard to get the sides into the same building not to mention the same room. Well, actually, they have no intention of being in the same room. If there is any dialogue, it will be through messengers shuttling between rooms. Could cost a lot of shoe leather but if there is progress, it would be worth it.
The Mideast already seems mired in that “interminable war.” 470,000 have died in Syria since the outbreak of protests against Assad five years ago. Millions of Syrians are in camps and desperate to get out to a better life, somewhere.
The day has faded. I am sitting in a deli in the city, sipping a cup of black coffee [I’m not allowed cream yet], looking out into the night that has fallen, the bright lights of cars heading down 7th Avenue, people scurrying from the cold.
All peaceful here. But for how long?
Tags:Ammon Bundy, Amtrak, Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, Einstein, Gary and Angel Koven, Hillary Clinton, Hudson River, Kerry, Lavrov, NATO, Oregon Standoff, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, The Knot, Theory of Relativity
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